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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. last — to go on
  9. board — to get on
  10. scale — in music
  11. board — a committee
  12. squash — the sport
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wind — moving air
  17. last — final
  18. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com